Flying Fish: Crazy and Beautiful Sea Gliders of the Sky

Flying Fish: A Dawn Spectacle on Sal Island’s Shores

In the early morning light off Sal Island, silvery shapes break the ocean’s surface and take to the air. Fishermen at Palmeira harbour return at sunrise with their night’s catch – tuna, bica (sea bream), octopus, and the occasional flying fish – all laid out for buyers on the docks. Suddenly, a living silver arrow skims above the waves.

A flying fish jumps out and glides just above the water with its fins outstretched like wings. Its fleeting shows have been amazing for people for generations. Cape Verde’s clear, warm Atlantic waters make an ideal stage for these little marvels. And around Sal Island, one can often glimpse their aerial antics on a calm day.

Tour guides even advise keeping cameras ready on Sal’s boat tours to catch the moment a flying fish bursts from the blue, darting above the surf before disappearing again. It’s a scene part natural wonder, part everyday life in this island nation.

The Fish That Learned to Glide

Flying fish (Exocoetidae) don’t truly “fly” like birds – instead, they glide on extended fins. With a mighty swipe of their tail, they launch themselves out of the water at speeds over 60 km/h, then spread their long pectoral fins like wings. Some species, dubbed “four-winged” flying fish, even fan out large pelvic fins for extra lift. Once airborne, these fish can soar for astonishing distances.

Most flights span tens of meters, but in perfect conditions, they’ve been recorded gliding over 200 meters in one go. By catching updrafts off waves – a trick pilots call ground effect – they prolong their flight and can even change direction by dipping their tail back into the water. In fact, a Japanese ferry crew famously filmed a flying fish staying aloft for a crazy 45 seconds, riding the air currents alongside the boat.

By alternating glides with quick tail dips to boost speed, a determined fish might string together multiple flights and cover up to 400 m before finally returning to the sea. This extraordinary gliding ability is an evolutionary escape tactic – by taking to the air, flying fish evade fast predators below, at least for a few seconds. Yet danger can still come from above: frigatebirds, boobies, and other seabirds are quick to snatch a fish in mid-flight.

Nature has fine-tuned the flying fish’s physiology for this two-realm existence. Their streamlined, torpedo-shaped bodies minimise drag in water and air. Long, stiff fins serve as wings, and an uneven forked tail – with a larger bottom lobe – functions as a built-in outboard motor, allowing rapid propulsion and even steering during flight. Unusual eye adaptations give them clear vision both below and above the surface, allowing a flying fish to spot predators in the sea and gulls in the sky.

Everything about these fish speaks of specialisation for a life at the interface of water and air – a small fish that turned a desperate leap into a graceful glide.

Cape Verde’s Waters: A Home for Flying Fish

Cape Verde’s location in the tropical Atlantic provides an inviting habitat for flying fish. The surrounding ocean is warm year-round (generally above 22 °C), a key condition since flying fish rarely venture into colder seas. In these nutrient-rich waters at the crossroads of cool currents and deep tropical swells, plankton flourishes – and so do the small crustaceans that flying fish love to eat.

The marine fauna around Cape Verde is remarkably diverse, and flying fish are a proud member of this community. Locals refer to them as peixe voador (“flying fish” in Portuguese), or in Cape Verdean Creole by the nickname pósse.

At least five species of flying fish glide through Cape Verde’s seas, including the Tropical Two-wing Flyingfish (Exocoetus volitans) and larger “four-winged” types like the Margined Flyingfish (Cheilopogon cyanopterus). These species tend to school near the surface, especially in calmer waters between islands. In fact, the broad but shallow submarine platform linking Sal, Boa Vista, and Maio islands forms an undersea plateau teeming with marine life. Here, in the eastern Cape Verde archipelago, flying fish can often be seen skipping across gentle swells on sunny days.

The Long Jump of Cape Verdean Peixe Voador

The Flying Fish is a species that can be observed making long jumps out of the water on a catamaran or sport fishing excursion. It’s not uncommon for boaters around Sal to report schools of these fish suddenly erupting from the sea, with their glistening fins catching the sunlight as they glide in unison before splashing back down.

Cape Verde’s seabirds have also learned to observe and keep watch. The brown booby, known locally as alcatraz, nests on nearby islets and feeds primarily on needlefish and flying fish. Likewise, the red-billed tropicbird is often seen patrolling offshore. These birds will swoop to catch flying fish that stray too far above the waves.

Thus, flying fish are more than a curiosity here – they are an integral thread in the food web, linking plankton, small fish, top predators, and even island bird colonies in a healthy ocean tapestry.

Flying Fish in Sal Island’s Fishing Tradition

On Sal Island, flying fish are woven into the daily rhythms of coastal life. At the busy port of Palmeira, fishermen returning from overnight trips occasionally unload crates containing flying fish among their haul.

Flying fish are not a primary target for commercial fishing. They are small, measuring only about 20–30 cm in length. However, they often get entangled in nets set for larger fish or are drawn to boat lights at night. Instead of tossing them back, Cape Verdeans historically found uses for these “wings of the sea.” Some are eaten fresh or sun-dried, adding variety to local diets that rely heavily on seafood.

More commonly, however, flying fish serve as valuable bait. Their tender, oily flesh attracts prized game fish. The same larger predators that chase flying fish in the wild. Local fishers and sport-angling crews alike utilise them to lure big Atlantic tunas, wahoo, and marlin. In the azure waters north of São Nicolau Island, one charter crew vividly recounted how a bright 700-pound marlin surged up behind their boat. They swiftly tossed out a rigged flying fish as a pitch bait, which the marlin chased and struck.

Cape Verde’s anglers know well that where flying fish abound, big fish follow. Indeed, an old Sal Island saying holds: “Se seguir um peixe voador, vai pescar atum de certeza” – “If you follow a flying fish, you’ll surely catch tuna”. This folk wisdom reflects a simple ecological fact: flying fish are a favourite meal of yellowfin tuna and other pelagic hunters, so a sea where the gliders are active is likely teeming with larger quarry too.

Besides their practical role, flying fish occupy a fond place in local culture. Children love watching them jump. They sometimes find dead fish all dried out on boats or even ashore. Fishermen give these fish respect, knowing that while small, they can lead them to the big catch – or provide a tasty snack when nothing else bites.

Unlike Barbados – nicknamed “the land of the flying fish,” where the species is a national symbol – Cape Verde hasn’t emblazoned the flying fish on coins or folklore. Yet anyone who has spent time on these isles can tell you that the sight of a peixe voador skipping over Sal’s turquoise waters is as much a part of the Cape Verdean seascape as the constant trade winds and the volcanic capes that gave the country its name.

Witnessing the Flight: From Sea to Sky

Cape Verde’s flying fish offer an inspiring glimpse into nature’s ingenuity. They live at the boundary of two worlds, fins becoming wings as necessity demands. Watching them, it’s easy to feel a sense of wonder – and to appreciate the healthy oceans that make such spectacles possible.

Fortunately, flying fish are not currently endangered. The species around Cape Verde are classified as Least Concern on the global Red List. They remain fairly common across tropical seas, with an abundance of their planktonic food in warm and clean waters.

However, like most other marine creatures, flying fish depend on stable ocean conditions. Changes in climate and overfishing of larger fish could alter the delicate balance that makes their aerial adventures viable. Cape Verde has a vested interest in safeguarding flying fish. Local NGOs and researchers are working to monitor fish stocks and promote sustainable practices, ensuring the archipelago’s marine life continues to thrive.

The shores of Sal Island murmur each day with constant sounds of surf and fishing boats, as they have for decades. But if you find yourself on a quiet Cape Verdean beach at dawn, try to keep an eye on the horizon for a flash of silver arcing above the water. A flying fish sails through the salty air. You’ll experience the unique magic of Cape Verde’s flying fish. That marvel, which is at once scientifically fascinating, narratively compelling, and undeniably free, is somewhere between the sea and the sky.

Bibliography

• The wonder of flying fish by Jerry Bergman and Don Batten, Creation 46(1):28–31, January 2024;
• Flying Fish Encounter these wonders of the ocean as they soar above the white-tipped waves below by Oceanwide Expeditions;
• Exocoetus volitans Linnaeus, 1758 Tropical two-wing flyingfish at fishbase.se; 
• Quality rather than Quantity Fishing off Cape Verde in July/August by Blue Water Fishing; 
• Red-billed Tropicbird Phaethon aethereus, Data Zone by BirdLife.org; 
• Alcatraz (Sula leucogaster) on avesmarinhasdecaboverde.info; 
• Fauna in Boa Vista at BoaVistaOfficial.com.